August 31, 2011

Norwegian Knitting

One of my favorite groups on Ravelry that I follow is the Anthropologie Group. If you want to know what I do to "waste time" this would be one explanation. I love most things "Anthropologie" and there is a network of knitwear designers on Ravelry who can't wait to pounce on every new knitwear design that's offered for sale at their stores and see if they can replicate the pattern on their own. And they're hugely successful at it! Just looking at knitwear designs recommended by these "Anthro Knitters" leads me down many rabbit holes.

It was down one of these rabbit holes yesterday that led me to the discovery of designer Solveig Hisdal from Norway. Her book, Poetry in Stitches: Clothes You Can Knit, is filled with colorful Norwegian style knitwear designs and I have to say I'M IN LOVE!!!



Solveig's inspiration for her designs in the book came from visiting Norwegian museums and studying textiles and costumes. She has translated textile history into art with her beautiful designs in Poetry in Stitches. Lucky for me, our library has a copy of the book, so I've placed a hold for one of the copies. I suspect that I will love the book too much not to own my own copy.

She is also the designer behind Oleana, a Norway-based textile manufacturer. For some reason, her designs just speak to me. They're feminine, whimsical and jaw-dropping gorgeous.

 

Solveig's designs inspire me to experiment more on my own with color and design.



My beloved grandmother Vivian was of Norwegian descent and she taught me to knit when I was very young. She knit my sisters and I beautiful Fair Isle cardigans (that my Aunt later ruined when she decided to wash and dry them in the laundry). I would love to know more about the designs she chose and wonder if they might have had some historical family significance. My sister April still has two of the cardigans after using them for many years to dress her dolls (yes, they shrunk that much!). I'll have to dig them out and see if I can do some detective work on my own on the designs. 

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